Augmented reality travel route planning

ABSTRACT

An apparatus such as a head-mounted display (HMD) may have a camera for capturing a visual scene for presentation via the HMD. A user of the apparatus may specify a pre-planned travel route for a vehicle within the visual scene via an augmented reality (AR) experience generated by the HMD. The pre-planned travel route may be overlaid on the visual scene in the AR experience so that the user can account for real-time environmental conditions determined through the AR experience. The pre-planned travel route may be transferred to the vehicle and used as autonomous travel instructions.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to augmented and/or virtualreality presentations.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Cameras, such as video cameras and still cameras, can be used to capturean image, a series of images, or a video of a physical, real-worldscene. Certain devices, by way of an augmented reality (AR) applicationor functionality, may be configured to insert virtual objects into thecaptured images or video before and/or while the images or video aredisplayed.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In accordance with one embodiment, a computer-implemented method maycomprise: presenting a visual scene in an augmented reality (AR)experience; augmenting the visual scene with a travel route input by auser; and transmitting autonomous travel instructions based upon thetravel route to a vehicle.

In some embodiments, the vehicle comprises at least one of an unmannedvehicle and a manned vehicle operative in an autonomous mode. Theaugmenting of the visual scene with the travel route may comprisepresenting a visual representation of the travel route overlaid on thevisual scene.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises augmenting the visualscene with a visual representation of the vehicle traveling the travelroute. The method may further comprise receiving alterations to thetravel route, the alterations being at least one of adjustments to thetravel route input by the user and adjustments to the travel routecalculated by a route calculator. Moreover, the method may comprisepre-scanning an environment represented in the visual scene andgenerating a collision model upon which the adjustments to the travelroute calculated by the route calculator are based. Further still, themethod may comprise receiving the travel route for augmenting the visualscene via gestures made by the user and visible within the visual scenepresented in the AR experience.

In some embodiments, the method may comprise presenting informationregarding one or more environmental conditions having a potential impacton the travel route as part of the AR experience. In some embodiments,the method may comprise presenting one or more maps as an overlay on thevisual scene presented in the AR experience. Further still, the methodmay comprise converting a visual representation of the travel routeaugmenting the visual scene into the autonomous travel instructions. Insome embodiments, the autonomous travel instructions comprise asequential series of geographical coordinates characterizing the travelroute.

In accordance with one embodiment, a vehicle may comprise: acommunications interface receiving autonomous travel instructionsgenerated based upon an augmented reality pre-planned travel route; anavigation unit operatively connected to the communications interfaceestablishing geographical waypoints defining the augmented realitypre-planned travel route based upon the autonomous travel instructions;and a controller operatively connected to the navigation unit, thecontroller controlling the vehicle such that it autonomously travelsalong the geographical waypoints.

In some embodiments, the autonomous travel instructions are receivedfrom an augmented reality device with which the augmented realitypre-planned travel route is established. The augmented realitypre-planned travel route may be translated from an augmented realityrepresentation presented by the augmented reality device into theautonomous travel instructions. The vehicle may comprise at least one ofan unmanned vehicle and a manned vehicle operative in an autonomousmode.

In accordance with one embodiment, an apparatus may comprise: at leastone camera adapted to capture a visual scene; an augmented realitycomponent adapted to present the visual scene in an augmented reality(AR) experience, and augment the visual scene with a travel route inputby a user; and a communications unit adapted to transmit autonomoustravel instructions based upon the travel route to a vehicle.

In some embodiments, the augmented reality component augments the visualscene with the travel route by presenting a visual representation of thetravel route overlaid on the visual scene. In some embodiments, theapparatus may further comprise a route calculator adapted to convert thevisual representation of the travel route into a sequent of geographicalwaypoints defining the travel route.

The augmented reality component may generate a collision model basedupon a pre-scanning of an environment represented in the visual scene,and further wherein the augmented reality component provides proposedadjustments to the travel route based upon the collision model. Theaugmented reality component may present information regarding at leastone of one or more environmental conditions and one or more perspectiveviews having a potential impact on the travel route as part of the ARexperience, and one or more maps as an overlay on the visual scenepresented in the AR experience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure, in accordance with one or more variousembodiments, is described in detail with reference to the followingfigures. The figures are provided for purposes of illustration only andmerely depict typical or example embodiments.

FIG. 1 is an operational flow diagram illustrating an example processfor planning a travel route using an augmented reality experience inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example augmented reality system in accordancewith various embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example augmented reality travel route planningexperience in accordance with various embodiments.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate example user interfaces used in augmentedreality travel route planning in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 5 is an example computing component that may be used to implementvarious features of embodiments described in the present disclosure.

The figures are not exhaustive and do not limit the present disclosureto the precise form disclosed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The use of unmanned vehicles, such as unmanned aerial vehicles ordrones, has increased in recent times. Drones are being used in variouscontexts, such as for delivering purchased items to customers,monitoring weather conditions, taking photographs and/or video, as wellas for providing aerial lighting during filming to name just a few. Somedrones can be controlled with a remote controller unit communicatingwirelessly with the drone, e.g., via radio frequency (RF) signals. Somedrones can be controlled using a pre-planned flight path that can begenerated with map-related software. In the case of pre-planned flightpaths, however, users are limited to static maps and flight planningsoftware that may be outdated, thereby failing to represent a currentstate of a location or area in which users may wish to operate theirdrone. Thus, a pre-planned flight path generated using conventionalsystems and methods may result in a drone encountering unforeseenobstacles, or a pre-planned flight path that does not meet the user'sdesires.

In accordance with various embodiments, an AR experience can bepresented to a user through which the user may generate a pre-plannedflight path that can be used to control the flight of a drone. Byleveraging AR technologies, the user can experience, e.g., visualize, aparticular location/area in which the user will be operating his/herdrone in its current state. Thus, a pre-planned flight path can avoidissues associated with conventional systems and methods of pre-plannedflight path generation.

FIG. 1 illustrates example operations that can be performed inaccordance with various embodiments for generating a travel route usingan AR experience. At operation 100, a visual scene may be presented inan AR experience. The visual scene (an example of which is illustratedin FIG. 3) may be captured by some form of AR device. FIG. 2 illustratesan example representation of such an AR device 200, which may beimplemented as solely an AR device, such as a head-mounted display, asee-through display, an optical see-through display, a video see-throughdisplay, a visor, glasses, etc. or as part of another user device, suchas a laptop PC. As shown, AR device 200 includes an augmented realitycomponent 202, one or more cameras 204, a display 206, one or moresensors 208, such an accelerometer, a communications unit 210, routecalculator 212, and a memory unit 214.

As used herein, an AR device refers to any device capable of displayinga real-time view of a physical, real-world environment while alteringelements within the displayed view of the environment. As such, an ARdevice displays a view of the real world but augments (e.g., adds ormodifies) elements using computer graphics technology. Such an AR devicemay include and/or be communicatively coupled to a camera device (ormultiple camera devices) used to capture a view of the real-worldenvironment and may further include computer software and/or hardwareconfigured to augment elements of the captured scene. When a user looksthrough or at the AR device, the user sees an augmented view of thephysical real-world environment in which the user is located.

The one or more cameras 204 may include cameras for capturing the visualscene, which may then be displayed to a user through display 206, whichas described above, may be a see-through display. As used herein, avisual scene refers to a view(s) of the real-world environment in whichthe AR device 300 is being used. For instance, a visual scene may be aseries of images of a real-world environment. In the example illustratedin FIG. 3, the visual scene captured by AR device 200 includes one ormore objects or obstacles, such as trees 304. Generally, one or moresensor(s) 208 may be a device(s) capable of measuring the physicalacceleration, movement, positioning, etc. of the AR device 200. In thisway, the user's movement can be tracked and used to accurately representthat user's view or field of view through the AR device 200. Forexample, AR component 202 may use the one or more sensor(s) 208 todetermine when the position of AR device 200 is changing, for example,which could indicate that the position of the AR device 200 relative tothe user and/or visual scene is changing.

Returning to FIG. 1, at operation 102, the visual scene presented in theAR experience may be augmented with a travel route input by a user. Forexample, referring to FIG. 3, a user 300 may visualize a scene throughAR device 200. The visual scene may be that of some area in which user300 wishes to fly his/her drone. The visual scene may include obstacles,for example, trees 304.

In accordance with various embodiments, user 300 may trace a desiredflight pattern he/she wishes his/her drone to travel. That is, in the ARexperience provided by AR device 200, user 300 may use his/her finger(represented in the AR experience as finger icon 308) to trace/makegestures representative of a travel route 306. It should be appreciatedthat because user 300 is visualizing the scene in real-time, obstacles,such as trees 304 may be taken into account and avoided. When usingconventional systems for generating pre-planned flight patterns orroutes, the user may only see, for example, a topographical map thatdoes not have information regarding any potential obstacles that a dronemight encounter. Additionally, conventionally-obtained satellite mapsmay have outdated representations of a particular area that may fail toreflect current obstacles or state of the area. One or more cameras 204may recognize the user's finger in the visual scene represented in theAR experience, and may track the route that the user's finger travels.Information reflecting the route may be relayed to AR component 202 sothat a visual representation of the route may be displayed, e.g., astravel route 306. In some embodiments, one or more sensors 208 maycomprise a microphone adapted to receive audio signals, e.g., user 300'svoice, allowing user 300 to generate a travel route using voicecommands.

In some embodiments, an AR representation of a drone may be presented inthe AR experience, and a virtual flight of the drone can be presented touser 300 so that user 300 can review the travel route he/she has input.In some embodiments, user 300 may correct, edit, or otherwise altertravel route 306 within the AR experience.

In still other embodiments, an existing travel route can be input intoAR device 200 via memory unit 214, where AR component 202 can presentthat existing travel route in the AR experience. Based on this “initial”travel route, user 300 may edit or alter the travel route as describedherein using AR device 200. That is, the existing travel route (that mayhave been generated using conventional pre-planned travel routingsoftware) can be viewed in a real-world representation. This way,obstacles that may not have been present or recognized in theconventionally pre-planned travel route can be identified and accountedfor by altering the travel route.

In some embodiments, route calculator 212 may analyze the existingtravel route in conjunction with information received from AR component202, one or more cameras 204, display 206, and/or one or more sensors208 reflecting a current scene and any relevant information, such asobstacles, determined therefrom. In some embodiments route calculator212 may analyze a drone's view based on a travel route so that, e.g., acinematographer or photographer can be informed as to what he/she canexpect to frame and/or capture before an actual flight of the drone. Thedrone's predicted view can be presented in real-time and/or recorded formore robust flight analysis. Decisions regarding camera aim, lens focallength, etc. can be determined based on this predicted view/capturedscene modeling.

In some embodiments, route calculator 212 may automatically edit oralter the existing travel route according to the above information. Insome embodiments, AR device 200 may initiate one or more alarms based ondetermined obstacles or other potential errors or problems that couldarise in view of the existing travel route and the currently visualizedscene. It should be understood that alarms or notifications can begenerated in accordance with other embodiments described herein whenpotential problems exist or are predicted with a travel route.

In some embodiments, a tracking marker (not shown) may be attached tothe user's finger, and one or more cameras 204 (or a separate trackingunit (not shown)) may monitor the tracking marker and store informationregarding its position and/or movement. In some embodiments, remotecontroller 220 of unmanned vehicle 218 may be operatively connected toAR device 202, e.g., by Bluetooth, Near Field Communications (NFC), RFcommunications, or the like. In this way, a travel route may be input byuser 300 using remote controller 220 and visualized through AR device200. In other embodiments, a virtual representation of a drone'scontroller may be displayed on display 206 to user 300 during the ARexperience. In this way, the virtual representation of the drone'scontroller may be utilized by user 300 to input a desired travel route,described in greater detail below with respect to FIGS. 4A and 4B.

Once a travel route, e.g., travel route 306, has been input and capturedby AR device 200, the travel route 306 may be analyzed by routecalculator 212 to translate or convert the visual representation oftravel route 306 into travel commands or instructions that can be usedby unmanned vehicle 218. That is, the visual representation of travelroute 306 may be transformed into a sequential series of coordinates,e.g., coordinates based on a ground-truth established with and/orrelative to the AR device 200, positioning data, manually establishedlandmark coordinates, etc. that embody the travel route. For example,the coordinates may be used as inputs to GPS unit 218 b, which candefine a travel route, e.g., waypoints that define a path or trajectory.These in turn can be utilized by controller 218 a to direct the travelof unmanned vehicle 218. It should be noted that other methods can beused to transform or translate the visual representation of travel route306 to instructions to be used by controller 218 a and/or GPS unit 218 bto direct the travel of unmanned vehicle 218. In some embodiments, acommon reference coordinate system between AR device 200, the drone, andthe real-world may include some combination of a GPS sensor, GLONASSsensor, differential GPS augmentation transmitter, and/or marker devicethat acts as a satellite for the drone's sensors that are notnecessarily directly related to GPS data. That is, a “lighthouse” ornetwork of lighthouse markers can be used to emit visual and/or radiosignals that can be used by the AR device 200 and the drone as areference coordinate system.

It should be noted that although route calculator 212 is illustrated inFIG. 2 as being a part of AR device 200, route calculator 212 mayinstead be implemented in unmanned vehicle 218 and/or remote controller220. That is, the visual representation of travel route 306 may betransmitted “as is” to unmanned vehicle 218 or remote controller 220 tobe converted. When remote controller 220 is used to convert travel route306 into travel commands or instructions, remote controller 220 cancommunicate the travel commands or instructions (utilizing its existingcommunications capabilities) to unmanned vehicle 218.

Returning to FIG. 1, at operation 104, autonomous travel instructionsbased upon the travel route may be transmitted to an unmanned vehicle.In some embodiments, communications unit 210 may transfer the series ofcoordinates directly to unmanned vehicle 218 via communicationsinterface 218 c. Controller 218 a in conjunction with GPS unit 218 b mayinstruct unmanned vehicle 218 to traverse the series of coordinates,thereby following the travel route 306 input by user 300 through and/orvisualized using AR device 200.

FIG. 4A illustrates one example of a user interface with which user 300may input a travel route, e.g., travel route 306. As noted previously,AR device may display a virtual representation of remote controller220's control interface as part of the AR experience presented to user300. For example, virtual controllers 402 a and 402 b can be displayed,where virtual controllers 402 a and 402 b represent controls for forwardand backward throttle, pitch, yaw, roll, etc. of a drone (which may bean embodiment of unmanned vehicle 218, and represented visually as drone410 on display 206 of AR device 200). User 300 may virtually operatecontroller 402 a and 402 b using his/her finger(s) within the ARexperience, or may operate physical controllers on remote controller 220that are represented by controllers 402 a and 402 b.

Various types of information or data that can be used when generating orplanning a travel route can be presented to user 300. For example, acompass 404 can be displayed informing user 300 of the direction inwhich he/she is looking and/or in which drone 410 is to travel. Windspeed information 406 can be provided, as well as sun positioninformation 408. Because wind speed can impact the flightcharacteristics of a drone, user 300 can consider wind speed informationwhen generating travel route 306, e.g., by specifying a travel routethat gives more berth around obstacles, such as trees 304. Sun positioninformation can be considered by user 300 if the drone is being utilizedto provide aerial lighting and/or being utilized to film a scene, asthis can impact contrast, brightness, white balance, and the like in aresulting video-capture.

Referring back to FIG. 2, such information, and other information thatmay be relevant to the travel route of an unmanned vehicle, can beobtained from one or more data stores, information providers/services,etc. via network 218. In some embodiments, this information can besimulated and incorporated into the AR experience provided by AR device200. In some embodiments, a visual scene captured by AR device 200 canbe used to “pre-scan” the environment represented in the visual scene,and used to automatically generate a suggested travel route, generate acollision model, etc.

Similarly, FIG. 4B illustrates an example of another user interface withwhich user 300 may input a travel route. In this example, a map overlayoption 412 can be provided. When selected, map overlay option 412results in a map being presented as an overlay to the visual scenecaptured by AR device 200. As noted above, an appropriate map to be usedas the overlay may be obtained from one or more data stores orinformation service providers via, e.g., network 218. In accordance withother embodiments, user 300 may upload a map of his/her choice to memoryunit 214 of AR device 200. It should be understood that the map used asthe overlay should correspond to the current location or area beingcaptured as the visual scene. In some embodiments, however, the scale ofthe map and/or the visual scene can be altered or adjusted to give user300 varying perspectives that may aid him/her in generating a desiredtravel route. In some embodiments, more than one map may be presented.For example, multiple types of maps may be overlaid on each other,and/or display 206 may present multiple screens on which different mapsor different map perspectives can be shown.

It should be noted that although various embodiments described in thepresent disclosure may reference drones or unmanned aerial vehicles, thetechnologies disclosed herein are not limited to unmanned aerialvehicles. Various embodiments can also be used to generate travel routesfor unmanned automotive vehicles, unmanned aquatic vehicles, etc.Various embodiments can also be used to generate travel routes formanned vehicles that at times, may operate in an unmanned mode, e.g.,autopilot mode, for example.

Moreover, various embodiments can be utilized to provide a user withbetter awareness of the manned/unmanned vehicle he/she wishes tocontrol. For example, in some embodiments, unmanned vehicle 218 may beassociated with AR device 200 such that it may be tracked and/ormonitored, e.g., via one or more cameras 204 and/or one or more sensors208. In this way, if user 300 loses visual sight of unmanned vehicle218, AR device 200 may nonetheless be able to continue tracking itsposition or movement.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example computing component that may be used toimplement various features of the system and methods disclosed herein,for example, augmented reality device 200, unmanned vehicle 218, remotecontroller 220, and/or any of their respective component parts.

As used herein, the term component might describe a given unit offunctionality that can be performed in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the present application. As used herein, a componentmight be implemented utilizing any form of hardware, software, or acombination thereof. For example, one or more processors, controllers,ASICs, PLAs, PALs, CPLDs, FPGAs, logical components, software routinesor other mechanisms might be implemented to make up a component. Inimplementation, the various components described herein might beimplemented as discrete components or the functions and featuresdescribed can be shared in part or in total among one or morecomponents. In other words, as would be apparent to one of ordinaryskill in the art after reading this description, the various featuresand functionality described herein may be implemented in any givenapplication and can be implemented in one or more separate or sharedcomponents in various combinations and permutations. Even though variousfeatures or elements of functionality may be individually described orclaimed as separate components, one of ordinary skill in the art willunderstand that these features and functionality can be shared among oneor more common software and hardware elements, and such descriptionshall not require or imply that separate hardware or software componentsare used to implement such features or functionality.

Where components of the application are implemented in whole or in partusing software, in one embodiment, these software elements can beimplemented to operate with a computing or processing component capableof carrying out the functionality described with respect thereto. Onesuch example computing component is shown in FIG. 5. Various embodimentsare described in terms of this example-computing component 500. Afterreading this description, it will become apparent to a person skilled inthe relevant art how to implement the application using other computingcomponents or architectures.

Referring now to FIG. 5, computing component 500 may represent, forexample, computing or processing capabilities found within aself-adjusting display, desktop, laptop, notebook, and tablet computers;hand-held computing devices (tablets, PDA's, smart phones, cell phones,palmtops, etc.); workstations or other devices with displays; servers;or any other type of special-purpose or general-purpose computingdevices as may be desirable or appropriate for a given application orenvironment. Computing component 500 might also represent computingcapabilities embedded within or otherwise available to a given device.For example, a computing component might be found in other electronicdevices such as, for example navigation systems, portable computingdevices, and other electronic devices that might include some form ofprocessing capability.

Computing component 500 might include, for example, one or moreprocessors, controllers, control components, or other processingdevices, such as a processor 504. Processor 504 might be implementedusing a general-purpose or special-purpose processing engine such as,for example, a microprocessor, controller, or other control logic. Inthe illustrated example, processor 504 is connected to a bus 502,although any communication medium can be used to facilitate interactionwith other components of computing component 500 or to communicateexternally.

Computing component 500 might also include one or more memorycomponents, simply referred to herein as main memory 508. For example,preferably random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic memory, might beused for storing information and instructions to be executed byprocessor 504. Main memory 508 might also be used for storing temporaryvariables or other intermediate information during execution ofinstructions to be executed by processor 504. Computing component 500might likewise include a read only memory (“ROM”) or other staticstorage device coupled to bus 502 for storing static information andinstructions for processor 504.

The computing component 500 might also include one or more various formsof information storage mechanism 510, which might include, for example,a media drive 512 and a storage unit interface 520. The media drive 512might include a drive or other mechanism to support fixed or removablestorage media 514. For example, a hard disk drive, a solid state drive,a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, a compact disc (CD) ordigital video disc (DVD) drive (R or RW), or other removable or fixedmedia drive might be provided. Accordingly, storage media 514 mightinclude, for example, a hard disk, an integrated circuit assembly,magnetic tape, cartridge, optical disk, a CD or DVD, or other fixed orremovable medium that is read by, written to or accessed by media drive512. As these examples illustrate, the storage media 514 can include acomputer usable storage medium having stored therein computer softwareor data.

In alternative embodiments, information storage mechanism 510 mightinclude other similar instrumentalities for allowing computer programsor other instructions or data to be loaded into computing component 500.Such instrumentalities might include, for example, a fixed or removablestorage unit 522 and an interface 520. Examples of such storage units522 and interfaces 520 can include a program cartridge and cartridgeinterface, a removable memory (for example, a flash memory or otherremovable memory component) and memory slot, a PCMCIA slot and card, andother fixed or removable storage units 522 and interfaces 520 that allowsoftware and data to be transferred from the storage unit 522 tocomputing component 500.

Computing component 500 might also include a communications interface524. Communications interface 524 might be used to allow software anddata to be transferred between computing component 500 and externaldevices. Examples of communications interface 524 might include a modemor softmodem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet, networkinterface card, WiMedia, IEEE 802.XX or other interface), acommunications port (such as for example, a USB port, IR port, RS232port Bluetooth® interface, or other port), or other communicationsinterface. Software and data transferred via communications interface524 might typically be carried on signals, which can be electronic,electromagnetic (which includes optical) or other signals capable ofbeing exchanged by a given communications interface 524. These signalsmight be provided to communications interface 524 via a channel 528.This channel 528 might carry signals and might be implemented using awired or wireless communication medium. Some examples of a channel mightinclude a phone line, a cellular link, an RF link, an optical link, anetwork interface, a local or wide area network, and other wired orwireless communications channels.

In this document, the terms “computer program medium” and “computerusable medium” are used to generally refer to transitory ornon-transitory media such as, for example, memory 508, storage unit 520,media 514, and channel 528. These and other various forms of computerprogram media or computer usable media may be involved in carrying oneor more sequences of one or more instructions to a processing device forexecution. Such instructions embodied on the medium, are generallyreferred to as “computer program code” or a “computer program product”(which may be grouped in the form of computer programs or othergroupings). When executed, such instructions might enable the computingcomponent 500 to perform features or functions of the presentapplication as discussed herein.

Although described above in terms of various exemplary embodiments andimplementations, it should be understood that the various features,aspects and functionality described in one or more of the individualembodiments are not limited in their applicability to the particularembodiment with which they are described, but instead can be applied,alone or in various combinations, to one or more of the otherembodiments of the application, whether or not such embodiments aredescribed and whether or not such features are presented as being a partof a described embodiment. Thus, the breadth and scope of the presentapplication should not be limited by any of the above-describedexemplary embodiments.

Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unlessotherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposedto limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term “including” shouldbe read as meaning “including, without limitation” or the like; the term“example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item indiscussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; the terms “a” or“an” should be read as meaning “at least one,” “one or more” or thelike; and adjectives such as “conventional,” “traditional,” “normal,”“standard,” “known” and terms of similar meaning should not be construedas limiting the item described to a given time period or to an itemavailable as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompassconventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that may beavailable or known now or at any time in the future. Likewise, wherethis document refers to technologies that would be apparent or known toone of ordinary skill in the art, such technologies encompass thoseapparent or known to the skilled artisan now or at any time in thefuture.

The presence of broadening words and phrases such as “one or more,” “atleast,” “but not limited to” or other like phrases in some instancesshall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intended or requiredin instances where such broadening phrases may be absent. The use of theterm “component” does not imply that the elements or functionalitydescribed or claimed as part of the component are all configured in acommon package. Indeed, any or all of the various aspects of acomponent, whether control logic or other components, can be combined ina single package or separately maintained and can further be distributedin multiple groupings or packages or across multiple locations.

Additionally, the various embodiments set forth herein are described interms of exemplary block diagrams, flow charts and other illustrations.As will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art afterreading this document, the illustrated embodiments and their variousalternatives can be implemented without confinement to the illustratedexamples. For example, block diagrams and their accompanying descriptionshould not be construed as mandating a particular architecture orconfiguration.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:presenting a visual scene in an augmented reality (AR) experience;augmenting the visual scene with a travel route input by a user; andtransmitting autonomous travel instructions based upon the travel routeto a vehicle.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein thevehicle comprises at least one of an unmanned vehicle and a mannedvehicle operative in an autonomous mode.
 3. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein the augmenting of the visual scene with thetravel route comprises presenting a visual representation of the travelroute overlaid on the visual scene.
 4. The computer-implemented methodof claim 1, further comprising augmenting the visual scene with a visualrepresentation of the vehicle traveling the travel route.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising receivingalterations to the travel route, the alterations being at least one ofadjustments to the travel route input by the user and adjustments to thetravel route calculated by a route calculator.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising pre-scanningan environment represented in the visual scene and generating acollision model upon which the adjustments to the travel routecalculated by the route calculator are based.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising receiving thetravel route for augmenting the visual scene via gestures made by theuser and visible within the visual scene presented in the AR experience.8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprisingpresenting information regarding one or more environmental conditionshaving a potential impact on the travel route as part of the ARexperience.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, furthercomprising presenting one or more maps as an overlay on the visual scenepresented in the AR experience.
 10. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, further comprising converting a visual representation of thetravel route augmenting the visual scene into the autonomous travelinstructions.
 11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, whereinthe autonomous travel instructions comprise a sequential series ofgeographical coordinates characterizing the travel route.
 12. A vehicle,comprising: a communications interface receiving autonomous travelinstructions generated based upon an augmented reality pre-plannedtravel route; a navigation unit operatively connected to thecommunications interface establishing geographical waypoints definingthe augmented reality pre-planned travel route based upon the autonomoustravel instructions; and a controller operatively connected to thenavigation unit, the controller controlling the vehicle such that itautonomously travels along the geographical waypoints.
 13. The vehicleof claim 12, wherein the autonomous travel instructions are receivedfrom an augmented reality device with which the augmented realitypre-planned travel route is established.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13,wherein the augmented reality pre-planned travel route is translatedfrom an augmented reality representation presented by the augmentedreality device into the autonomous travel instructions.
 15. Theapparatus of claim 12, wherein the vehicle comprises at least one of anunmanned vehicle and a manned vehicle operative in an autonomous mode.16. An apparatus, comprising: at least one camera adapted to capture avisual scene; an augmented reality component adapted to present thevisual scene in an augmented reality (AR) experience, and augment thevisual scene with a travel route input by a user; and a communicationsunit adapted to transmit autonomous travel instructions based upon thetravel route to a vehicle.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein theaugmented reality component augments the visual scene with the travelroute by presenting a visual representation of the travel route overlaidon the visual scene.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising aroute calculator adapted to convert the visual representation of thetravel route into a sequent of geographical waypoints defining thetravel route.
 19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the augmentedreality component generates a collision model based upon a pre-scanningof an environment represented in the visual scene, and further whereinthe augmented reality component provides proposed adjustments to thetravel route based upon the collision model.
 20. The apparatus of claim15, wherein the augmented reality component presents informationregarding at least one of one or more environmental conditions and oneor more perspective views having a potential impact on the travel routeas part of the AR experience, and one or more maps as an overlay on thevisual scene presented in the AR experience.